BBC Chinese, Mar. 13, 2010.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2010/03/100313_bordeaux_china.shtml
My comment:
(1) Suzanne Mustacich, China ousts US as Bordeaux's top client outside
Europe. AFP, Mar. 12, 2010.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100312/wl_asia_afp/winelifestylebordeauxfrancechina
This AFP report is virtually the English version of the BBC Chinese report.
Unless you want to know the spelling of proper names, you need not read it.
(2)
China becomes biggest export market for bordeaux wine outside EU; China has
become the biggest export market for bordeaux wines outside the European
Union as overall exports have collapsed due to the economic crisis and a
strong euro put some wines beyond US and British buyers. Telegraph, Mar. 11,
2010.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/7423067/China-becomes-biggest-export-market-for-bordeaux-wine-outside-EU.html
("China bought 13.7 million litres for 74 million euros (£67 million),
overtaking the United States, which took 11.6 million litres for 139 million
euros. Japan came third, with the same volume as the United States. Hong
Kong is counted as a separate market, where 4.2 million litres were sold for
109 million euros.")
Therefore, China (mainland) is No. 1 by sale volume, not by money spent. In
other words, US, HK and Japan buy high-end wines.
(3)
(a) Bordeaux (n): "white or red wine of the Bordeaux region of France" www.m
-w.com
(b) Bordeaux
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordeaux
(a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France;
(c) "The name Bordeaux derives from the French au bord de l'eau which means
'along the waters' and makes reference to the Gironde estuary and its
tributaries, the Garonne and the Dordogne rivers which play a pivotal role
in the history and success of this region."
History of Bordeaux wine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bordeaux_wine
(citing K. MacNeil, The Wine Bible, pg 120. Workman Publishing, 2001.)